Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Riddick’ Wins an Unimpressive Weekend

One of the things 'Riddick' has going for it is that it didn't cost too much. So while its opening weekend may be a little less than impressive, it doesn't have that far to go to make a profit. It's little victories like this that make this, one of the slowest most stagnant movie weekends of the year, more palatable.

Film

Weekend

Per Screen

1

Riddick

$18,673,000

$6,010

$18,673,000

2

The Butler

$8,900,000 (-40.2)

$2,673

$91,901,000

3

Instructions Not Included

$8,100,000 (+3.2)

$11,297

$20,312,000

4

We're the Millers

$7,925,000 (-37.7)

$2,300

$123,884,000

5

Planes

$4,274,000 (-44.9)

$1,409

$79,279,000

6

One Direction: This is Us

$4,100,000 (-74.1)

$1,499

$23,991,000

7

Elysium

$3,100,000 (-51.9)

$1,383

$85,077,000

8

Blue Jasmine

$2,688,000 (-32.6)

$2,514

$25,449,000

9

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

$2,500,000 (-44.2)

$1,222

$59,848,000

10

The World's End

$2,302,000 (-54.3)

$1,514

$21,737,000

With an $18 million opening weekend, 'Riddick' opened only six million shy of what 'The Chronicles of Riddick' did back in 2004. Of course, budget makes all of the difference in the world -- that movie was a massive, D.O.A. bomb and 'Riddick' is simply a shrug. Unless it drops off a cliff next week, the third adventure of Vin Diesel's mumbling anti-hero should at least break even when all is said and done. No one will be clamoring for a part four, but at least Diesel and director David Twohy can keep their pride.

In second place, 'The Butler' continued being one of the season's surprise hits, grossing $8 million for a $91 million total. It'll most likely hit $100 million by the end of next weekend at the latest, making this the most unexpected blockbuster of 2013. It's crazy that a Civil Rights drama starring Forrest Whitaker is doing triple the business of the latest Vin Diesel action movie. Crazy.

Even crazier is 'Instructions Not Included' climbing to the number three spot with $8 million and a $20 million total. The Spanish-language comedy made a surprise appearance in the top 10 last week, but positive word of mouth has led to it making more this weekend than it did last weekend. That's rare. It's also more evidence of a very large and frequently untapped moviegoer market.

In fourth place, 'We're the Millers' continued killing it, making $7 million for a $123 million total. That's more than 'The Hangover Part III' made. That's a big deal. Not quite as big of deal but also not bad at all is 'Planes' in fifth place, which now has $79 million. $100 million is most likely out of range, but this thing has had surprisingly strong legs for a movie that opened so weakly.

'One Direction: This is Us' plummeted in its second weekend, earning only $4 million for a $23 million total. That can only be good for America. Right below it, 'Elysium' crawled to $85 million, which probably doesn't affect America in any significant way. What is great for America is the fact that 'Blue Jasmine' is still hanging out in the top 10 in the number eight position, proving that sometimes we do like to go see movies about adults for adults. That's a $25 million victory for real movie lovers.